War of the Dragonborns
by Flapjack123
Summary: Two Dragonborns. One corrupted by wealth and fame, one just discovering his newfound power within. Fate will pit these two warriors against each other in a battle for the ages.
1. Chapter 1

Malachite ducked backwards, barely dodging the drougr's long, ebony, enchanted sword. He stumbled back behind the drougr's throne and fell onto the ground. The drougr lunged forwards, swiping his sword in a deadly arc and would have cut of Malachite's legs if he had not rolled out of the way. Malachite swung his Imperial sword (stolen, of course. Nobody likes the Imperials!) and slashed half of the drougr's ribcage to the ground. Bones clattered and the drougr rapped Malachite's hand, causing the sword to clang to the wall of the cave.

The drougr snatched up the Imperial sword and flung the blade towards Malachite's head. Malachite ducked and scampered away, searching for any kind of weapon to fight back with. He wrapped his fingers around one of the drougr's old ribs and cracked it against the drougr's ebony sword that was swinging towards his face. The bone snapped into bits and Malachite backed against the wall behind the throne. Suddenly, all the light in the room brightened, then dimmed as the wall between the drougr and the throne glowed a light blue and Malachite felt a gust of wind blow his hair back.

The Drougr raised his sword and prepared to swing the final blow… and an arrow disintegrated his head. Malachite cringed as the bones smashed to the ground and his sister, Iveri, walked silently into the room carrying her trademark bow. She cleared her throat and her voice rang throughout the cavern "Umm, you're welcome?"

Malachite grinned and picked his sword back up. "Thanks." He weighed the Imperial sword in his hand and after a moment of consideration, dropped it and placed the drougr's ebony sword in his sheath instead.

"Find anything?" Iveri asked, searching for loot. They often found caves in the wilderness of Skyrim to try and find money so they could move out of the slums of Ivarstead into Whiterun or even Solitude if they could.

"I saw a chest in front of the throne, but the drougr popped up before I could pick the lock." Malachite replied.

Iveri scoffed. "Pick the lock?" She picked up Malachite's old sword and bashed the chest until it burst open, spilling the contents all over the floor.

Malachite rolled his eyes and scanned the knick-knacks on the floor and picked up a small amethyst. "This is good, but not very big…"

Iveri pocketed the jewel and asked "Find anything else? Anything?"

Malachite shrugged. "Well, that wall had some sort of magic in it, when I was about to get killed by the drougr, it glowed blue and sent wind everywhere. Maybe we could read the enchantment and make a spell and sell it to the College of Winterhold."

Iveri eyed the wall suspiciously. "Glowed? All that's on that wall is a bunch of scratches. Like tally marks, but some are slanted and sideways."

Malachite stepped towards the wall before replying, "Yeah, except for right… _here_." He traced his finger along the word PUSH engraved in the wall."

"There's nothing. Just three slashes up and down and two that make an X. No words." Iveri said.

"No, right here! It says push in big, round letters. It's obvious."

"You're tracing slash marks. Let's get you home. Maybe you're delusional from the near death experience. We can ask Olipi when we get back to Ivarstead. But, for now, unless you have any _real _treasure, we need to leave and get home before sunset. Besides, I want to check the snares that Torel taught me on the way back."

Malachite glanced at the word one last time and it seemed to wiggle in blue light for a second, and then he agreed and followed his sister through the tunnel leading to the surface. "Wait!" He said, eyes widening. "Torel taught you snares?"

Iveri laughed in her annoying, obnoxious laugh and said "Last week, when you were with Klatch stealing your 'amazing' sword that lasted about a week. We went out into the forest and built snares."

There was an awkward silence as they continued the hike uphill. When they reached the surface, Malachite finally broke it. "You go check the snares, see if you can get us a free dinner. I'm going to go to Whiterun and see if the trader has good money."

"No, no. If we split up, you're going straight home. You need to have your head checked for glowing, blue, invisible words before you go stay in Jorrvaskr again. Last time you went there, you came home with hay fever. There's no telling what'll happen this time, especially if you have head problems. Go home. I'll be there before 10."

Malachite shook his head and started trudging towards Ivarstead. "Fine. But I get the berries tonight!"

Every night, Malachite's and Iveri's mother mashed up berries almost into a pudding for a desert, but there was hardly ever enough for more than one person.

"Fine. Whatever you want, little brother."

"See you soon little sister."

They always argued about who was younger because they were twins. But Malachite wasn't thinking about that. His mouth made the friendly words as a reflex, but his mind was different entirely. _Torel? Torel? She talks smack about Klatch when she's going off in the woods to snuggle up with some _bard_ who thinks that just because he can sing well, every girl in the universe loves him! Torel? And I'm not crazy! The wall really glowed before she showed up! _

All this floated around in his mind as he hiked towards his home, and when he was sure Iveri was deep in the forest near his home town, he made the best bad decision in his life.

He tucked his undershirt and light leather armor into his belt, checked his new ebony sword, and sprinted north for Whiterun.


	2. Chapter 2

At 9:30, Malachite reached the large, mahogany gates of Whiterun. Looking sideways at both guards before pulling the enormous doors apart and looked around the torch-lit city and felt like he was at home for the first time in a long time. He walked past Adrianne Avenicci's forge and climbed the stone steps towards Dragonsreach, but turned right and entered Jorrvaskr.

He descended into the underground level where recruits slept and found that the bed he had slept in last time was taken. Malachite shrugged and plopped down silently on the bed in front of that one. He blinked, and suddenly it was morning.

Malachite rubbed his eyes and checked his pocket to make sure that the ruby he had hidden there last night (He couldn't give _everything_ away!) was still there. It was. He stood up and looked in the mirror.

Malachite had black hair that almost reached his eyebrows and in the back, touched his neck line. He was about 5ft 10, and was very skinny, but not all muscle. His eyes were what gave him his name, because they sparkled a brilliant shade of green just like glass. But who names a kid Glass? So Malachite it was.

Malachite snuck over to his old bed and pulled out a knapsack from beneath the frame. He pulled out a new undershirt, stripped down, put on the under shirt, pulled up his pants, and put his leather armor back on before sliding the knapsack, now containing his dirty clothes, under his new bed and heading up the stairs so he could go to Belethor's goods and possibly to the Drunken Huntsman afterwards.

When he arrived in the banquet room, music was playing, a fire was already raging, and two recruits were having a sparring match, fighting for acceptance into the Circle. Malachite rolled his eyes and was about to push his way through the two shield-brothers when the doors leading to Whiterun slammed open and a surprisingly clear voice rang through the smoke and laughter, shouting "Laas Yah Nir!"

Everything stopped and 102 eyes swiveled to the newcomer.

It was the Dragonborn.

Being an Argonian, he had no hair of course. He had spikes jutting out all over his head almost in rows. He was wearing Thieves Guild Armor, but no hood. He had two stripes of red war paint on his cheeks heading towards his ears, and he had soot all over his snout.

"Greetings, Companions! May I speak to your leader?"

Kodlak Whitemane stood up from his chair at the head of the table and said "We have no leaders here. We are all brothers and sisters here, but I will represent us."

The Dragonborn rolled his eyes and Malachite started to dislike him. He saved the world from Alduin, but now he had too much power over everyone else in Skyrim. He talked snidely. "Well, I just wanted to drop by, as I'm doing at all the guilds, and say a word of warning. The priests at High Hrothgar have felt a new Dragonborn somewhere in the hold of Whiterun. If anyone comes reporting having Dragonborn-like powers, come tell me in Breezehome immediately, or Lydia if I'm away. Got it?"

Kodlak inquired "What kinds of things would the new Dragonborn be talking about? What kinds of powers do you have?"

The Dragonborn scoffed and answered "Well, if they learn to shout extremely fast, or report having seen glowing blue words on a wall-" Malachite's weary eyes widened "- then that should be enough to come tell me. Okay? Any more questions?" Without waiting for a reply, he turned away and left the hall.

A burst of chatter broke out in Jorrvaskr. Who could be the new Dragonborn? Could it be a Companion? They had to get the Dragonborn to join the Companions. It would give them a good name, and he could possibly be the new Ysgramor!

These were all called out to the crowd multiple times in several different ways before Kodlak raised his hand to silence the chatter. "Silence, please, thank you. I agree with the thought that a Dragonborn joining the Companions would be a wondrous thing. But, we must not seek him out. The Dragonborn is free to what he please. He is still human, after all. If you find him, feel free to encourage him to take up arms, but more importantly, we need to repay our debt to the Dragonborn. I don't know how many of you here weren't here then, but three months ago, the Silver Hand led a raid on Jorrvaskr and murdered Skjor. The Companions would have been doomed. We were all wounded, and the Silver Hand would have taken us all if not for the Dragonborn.

"The old one, not the new one, of course."

"He ran in from his house, Breezehome, and shouted the Silver Hand members to shreds. They retreated, but the Dragonborn hunted them down for us and defeated every last one of them in battle. If you do not think that this feat is worth telling him where the new Dragonborn is, then you may leave right now! Now I say!"

A chorus of cheers rang out, but silenced when they noticed Malachite sprinting out the front door.

Malachite ran all the way to Belethor's goods to trade in his ruby. He wanted to sell it and get home to talk about this new development.

But he would never get to.

Malachite walked into Belethor's goods and marched up to the counter, placed his ruby on the wood, and said "I want 120 gold. That or higher. Take it or leave it."

The man behind the counter opened his mouth to say something, but a woman who had been browsing but now had her gaze locked onto the ruby shouted out "That's mine! My husband gave it to me before he passed!"

Malachite sized her up in his mind, and decided she was too poor to pay up. "No way. I found this in a cave. It belongs to me."

The woman hobbled to the door and called out "Guards! Thief! Thief!"

Malchite quickly turned the ruby over and found that there was an inscription he hadn't seen in the half-light of the cave before. _To Hilda, from your eternal love, Haggard._

_Ugh_, Malachite thought. He tossed the ruby on the floor and sprinted for the gates, hoping to leave before the guards found him, but two were already there, waiting for him. They pointed and yelled and more guards came around the corner.

Malachite turned around and ran up to Dragonsreach, dodging arrows form guards on rooftops. He reached the wooden awning over the entrance and stunned both the guards standing there. He heard away up the stairs. He climbed to the roof of Dragonsreach as rain started to fall. Malachite looked behind him and desperately scampered for the back edge of Dragonsreach, but more guards were waiting for him on ground level. Malachite turned to see he was cornered by guards.

"You have committed crimes against Skyrim and her people. What do you have to say in your defense?"

Malachite felt anger boiling up inside of him. "I have one thing to say!" He screamed over the howling wind.

He thought of the wall in the drougr's cavern. Push. He tried to draw magic from inside himself and shouted 'Push!' but that's not what his lips did.

"_Fus!__"_

A burst of blue light shot away from Malachite's mouth and the guards stumbled backwards and fell over. Malachite jumped over all of their bodies, but before he could get to ground level, he heard "Tiid Klo Ul!" and suddenly the Dragonborn was next to him and punching Malachite's lights out.

Malchite dropped over the edge of the roof and crashed through the wooden bridge in front of the entrance to Dragonsreach, rolled down the hill and slammed into the tree in the center of the town square, unconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

Malachite opened his eyes and groaned. He looked around and sound that he was in a putrid-smelling cell underneath Dragonsreach. His cellmate, a Kajiit, was lying on the floor next the hole in the ground that was their toilet, looking very much dead.

Malachite looked at himself and groaned again. His armor and clothes were gone, replaced by leather moccasins that were too small and rags that started at his shoulder and barely passed his knee. And of course, his weapons were gone.

Malachite tentatively got to his feet and tip-toed over to his cell mate. Prodding the Kajiit with a finger, Malachite asked "Hello?"

The single word echoed throughout the entire prison. The other man in Malachite's cell shot up like a rocket to sitting position. Malachite raised his hands in surrender and backed up against the wall. "Oh!" The man smiled, lowering his hands and sitting back down on the filthy ground. "My name is Tiber."

Malachite pressed himself against the wall to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Tiber Septim? Talos? Ysmir? The God of Divines? Really? Talos is a Khajiit?"

Tiber chuckled and laughed until he was rolling on the disgusting floor. He wiped his eyes and began to talk again.

"No, I am not a god. My parents were skooma addicts and named me after Talos in hopes that I could become a god, too. Doesn't really make sense, but it turned out that I did get my fair share of fame. And look where I ended up for saving the world, eh? Prison."

Malachite slid down onto his cot, shaking his head. "Saving the world? Maybe you _are _crazy."

Tiber looked up at Malachite sadly and said "I'm the one who stopped Alduin from taking over the world. I defeated the Silver Hand all on my own, but I always wore a hood to hide my identity."

It was Malachite's turn to laugh. "No, the Dragonborn did that. I met him myself earlier. He's the reason I'm in this rat hole. He's a poop.

He smiled, but it was less happy this time, more like remembering when he used to be free. "The man you met is named Gunjar Piketail. He is the original Dragonborn. He forced the priests' of High Hrothgar to teach him their shouts and then slaughtered them. He became the most powerful man in all of Tamriel. Except for me, nobody could stop him. And I failed.

"I challenged him to a duel at the Throat of the World, where only Dragonborns could reach. We had a fierce battle, but he managed to catch me off guard and drain away my shouts and launch me off the mountain with the Fus Ro Dah shout. That is the most basic shout, which might be why I remember it, but none of the others. I have only learned one other shout since then. Here it is."

At this point, Malachite was expecting him to say something in ancient dragon tongue, but something else happened. The dragon markings for 'Whirlwind' appeared on the floor. They burned red and Malachite felt a rushing of wind as he experienced how Tiber had learned the shout. Malachite felt the pain of tumbling down a mountain and only stopping a dragon burial site, where he quickly learned the first word of the Whirlwind Sprint shout and used it to escape the attacking dragon priest.

Malachite felt himself rolling down the rocky mountain and felt his leg snap to pieces as he landed on the roof of High Hrothgar after being launched airborne by a slanted boulder. He used the shout once to dodge a firebolt from the dragon priest high above, but he went too far and fell off of the roof and into the waiting custody of the guards of Whiterun. It faded to black and when Malachite woke up again, he was back in the cell with Tiber.

Malachite gasped and checked his legs for injuries. They were fine. "What in the name of Talos was that?"

"You experience my learning of the word of power, so now you too have learned it. I promise the next two will be less nerve wracking, as I wasn't falling down a mountain or being attacked by a horde of warriors and a dragon priest in either experience."

Malachite experienced similar trances for _Ro _and_ Dah_, but Tiber was right- they were less nerve wracking. All he saw was fighting off a couple of drougrs and learning the sh0ut from the ancient wall.

Malachite grinned at the thought of knowing words of power within 24 hours of becoming the Dragonborn. Tiber spoke as Malachite returned from the Dah trance, "Now that you know these, you need to go out into the world and learn more shouts and more skills so you can face Gunjar."

Malachite responded "Why do I have to face Gunjar? Why can't I just go home with the ability to shout? Why does it make a difference?"

"Gunjar knows you now. He will not rest until you are dead. He knows that you have the potential to become infinitely more powerful than him and steal his fame and fortune."

Malachite crinkled his nose. "What if I don't actually want to do that, even though he knocked me out and put me in prison?"

Tiber sighed. "Gunjar does not care. He will kill you just in case you decide to change your mind later. You need to learn skills and powers to rival his and bring him down. If not for personal revenge, do it for me, please? I'm afraid I can't leave with you."

"Why not?"

Tiber gestured to his legs. "I am paralyzed from my fall down the mountain. I have been in this cell for fourteen years waiting for someone strong enough to avenge me. You have more than enough potential. I have friends who can pick you up at the Whiterun stables if you can run that far after I get you out of Dragonsreach."

Malachite nodded. "Sounds easy enough."

Tiber chuckled. "As long as you have no trouble with killing a few guards."

Malachite nodded and asked "How do we- I mean I get out?"

"Simple." Tiber scooted awkwardly to the cell door and pushed it open.

Malachite almost burst out laughing, but instead crouched low and started to leave when Tiber loudly whispered his last piece of advice. "Go all the way down the hallway on the left and you'll find a chest. It shouldn't be locked and it has my glass mace in it. Take and get to the stables. Go!"

Malachite nodded and waddled down the hallway and found the weapon. Then a guard appeared in front of him.

"Prisoner on the loose! Prisoner is loose!"

There was a _thump_ and Malachite watched him fall to the ground. Then, he sprinted for the stairs. When he reached the top, he tackled a guard who was standing there waiting. He slammed the mace into the guard's stomach and picked up his shield. An archer came from the doorway across the gap in the floor leading to the dungeons. Malachite blocked one arrow and then threw the shield like a discus and it slammed into the archer's throat, knocking him unconscious.

Malachite reached the throne room and burst out the doors before any of the guards could even register what happened. Malachite climbed onto the roof of Dragonsreach again, but this time he jumped off towards the building far below. When he was even with the roof of that building, he yelled "_Wuld_!" and felt air rush around him as he shot forwards like an arrow from a bow.

Speaking of arrows and bows, archers around the city were firing at him as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop like this, and eventually over the guard wall of Whiterun.

Malachite dropped onto the wooden bridge over the drawbridge, but was going too fast and shot right through the planks and onto the ground. More guards burst through the city doors and charged him as Malachite hobbled towards the stables. The guards had halved the distance between them and the prisoner on the loose when Malachite saw a strange black horse that seemed out of place, thought _that must be the help Tiber was talking about!_, and jumping on the horse. He kicked it forwards, but it refused to move.

The guards were closing in. Just as Malachite noticed that the horses looked like they were red, a female voice said "Excuse me, but that's my horse."

Then, Malachite felt a prick in the back of his neck and he promptly fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Malachite opened his eyes slowly and looked and gazed at his surroundings. He was in a cave illuminated solely by blue-green moss growing on the walls. He looked to his left and saw… a frostbite spider!

Malachite rolled away from it and reached for his mace, but it wasn't there. He turned around and saw a ledge he could climb up. A clenched fist appeared on the ledge and the spider lunged at Malachite. He jumped up and grabbed the fist, but it pulled back at the last second and landed _on top of_ the frostbite spider. It turned around and searched for him, confused, and then collapsed under Malachite's weight.

He walked back over to the ledge and hauled himself upwards. "Why did you pull your hand back? You could have hel-" Malachite stopped talking when he saw that the fist had belonged to a young teenager.

The girl scoffed. "It wouldn't have hurt you. It's my pet."

Malachite rolled his eyes and responded "What are you, a rare and potentially deadly animal collector?"

She laughed and said "No, I'm an assassin!"

Malachite rolled his eyes again and she said sharply "Stop rolling your eyes like that. It's annoying."

Malachite said "First: I wasn't rolling my eyes. I had to quickly look at the ceiling. Second: Don't tell me what to do. I'm 24 and you're only-"

"Thousands of years older?" She interrupted him and then bared her teeth.

When Malachite noticed her fangs, he nearly jumped back into the pit with the frostbite spider.

A cold laugh came from the corner of the room. "Stop it, Babette. You're scaring him. He's here on a personal favor."

Malachite looked at the source of the voice and saw a woman with long blonde hair wearing black and red armor. Malachite asked "Who are you people? Where am I? Are you Tiber's friends?"

"Yes, we are Tiber's friends. We might reveal to you your location in due time if you prove yourself strong enough. And who are we? Well, can you think of any other groups of assassins in Skyrim? We're the Dark Brotherhood."

Malachite stumbled backwards. "The Dark Brotherhood? Is Tiber a member? I knew I shouldn't have trusted him!"

The woman sighed and took a step towards him. "Just because the Dark Brotherhood kills people, that makes us evil? You killed guards on your way out of jail. Do you think of yourself as evil?"

Malachite looked at his moccasins. "Well…"

"And don't say that they're just guards. That amuses me because it is the same thing that I think, but they weren't guards to their families. They were family. So before you start judging, think about it and decide whether or not it's a good way to make money. The correct answer is yes, it is, so don't try and argue, and come with me. I'll show around your temporary home. By the way, the name is Astrid."

She walked out of the room briskly without another word, as if no other words needed to be said. Apparently, she was right, because Malachite followed her, eager to get away from the frightening vampire child.

Astrid brought him through a long hallway and into a huge room with a small pond in one corner, a forge along one wall, a training room along the other wall, and a steel spiral staircase leading to a hatch in the ceiling. Astrid pointed out the various things and the people at each station. A Redguard climbing down the staircase and wearing a Fez was Nozir, the Argonian training with a bow and arrow was Veezara, the Nord watching him was Arnbjorn, Astrid's husband, and the man using the alchemy station was Festus Krex.

She explained that they used to have a member named Gabriella, but Gunjar, the Dragonborn, pretended to be recruited and led the Penitus Oculatus on a raid of the old sanctuaries, one near Falkreath, one outside Dawnstar. They retreated and built the new headquarters, wherever they did. She wasn't telling Malachite yet.

"So, what am I supposed to be doing here? Do I just leave whenever you feel like I'm allowed to and go home?" Malachite asked.

"Well, that depends on whatever Tiber told you to do. Whad did he say?" Astrid said.

"He told me to discover new skills and learn more shouts so I could face Gunjar in battle, but I don't really think he was right. I just want to go home and ignore my powers, go back to the way things were. So can you get me to Ivarsted? Conscious or not, that's where I'm going."

Astrid looked up and down his body, as if sizing him up, and laughed. "That's the spirit! Tough and determined and persistent. That's what we were looking for. If you want to join, you're in."

Malachite shook his head. "No. I don't want to be in. I want to go home."

Astrid sighed. "Okay. Follow me."

They walked up the spiral staircase and arrived in long hallway cut into the rock leading upwards to a black, solid wall. Malachite turned to Astrid with a look of confusion on his face, but she was already sliding a rock on the ground from one side of the hallway to the other. When it touched the wall opposite the one it had been leaning on before, the wall swung outwards and upwards, creating a sort of awning in the forest.

Astrid gestured for him to leave and said "We're just outside Riverwood if you need us again. Oh, and take these. In case you change your mind." She held out black and red cloth that Malachite knew would be Dark Brotherhood armor if he unfolded it.

Malachite almost turned it down, but he figured it would be disrespectful and he might need their help later. Besides, he could always just throw it away at home. He took the armor, put it in his bag, thanked Astrid for saving him and for housing him, and started walking northeast for Ivarsted.

Iveri rolled through an open door, jumped over a raging fire, whipped a bow from her quiver, and loaded into her bow. She fired at the Dragon, but she wasn't even sure that it hit the beast. It let loose another round of scorching flames and Klatch's house was set on fire. _You better thank me for this when you get home, Malachite!_ Iveri thought as she sprinted to the house, dodging a swipe of the dragon's spiky tail. She kicked down the flimsy wooden door and ran inside. "Anybody still in here?" She hollered over the noise of the blazing fire and acrid smoke.

"Help!" She heard Klatch's low voice from the second story.

There was a crack and the ceiling collapsed just in front of Iveri, and a body fell down with it. _Make that first story_ Iveri thought sarcastically as she hopped over the debris and grabbed Klatch's shirt and started dragging him towards the entrance of his house. Halfway there, the dragon crashed through the side of the house and grabbed Iveri around the waist with its razor sharp claws.

Blood dripped from her waist, but it wasn't _too_ deep. The dragon seemed to want to carry, not kill her, if that was possible. She held onto Klatch for as long as she could, but eventually, she passed out and dropped him from the sky.


End file.
